- Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1847
- Music: William H. Monk, 1861
Lyte was inspired to write this hymn as he was dying of tuberculosis; he finished it the Sunday he gave his farewell sermon to the the parish he served so many years. The next day, he left for Italy to regain his health. He didn't make it though; he died in Nice, France, three weeks after writing these words.
For more than a century, the bells of his church at All Saints in Lower Brixham, Devonshire, have rung out "Abide With Me" daily. The hymn was sung at the wedding of King George VI of Britain, and at the wedding of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. The music used here, titled "Eventide," is by far the best known of four different tunes used over the years. Mrs. Monk described the setting for her husband's composition of the tune: "This tune was written at a time of great sorrow; when together we watched, as we did daily, the glories of the setting sun. As the last golden ray faded, he took some paper and penciled that tune which has gone all over the earth."
For more than a century, the bells of his church at All Saints in Lower Brixham, Devonshire, have rung out "Abide With Me" daily. The hymn was sung at the wedding of King George VI of Britain, and at the wedding of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. The music used here, titled "Eventide," is by far the best known of four different tunes used over the years. Mrs. Monk described the setting for her husband's composition of the tune: "This tune was written at a time of great sorrow; when together we watched, as we did daily, the glories of the setting sun. As the last golden ray faded, he took some paper and penciled that tune which has gone all over the earth."
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